EU deplores Japan executions, calls for moratorium

(BRUSSELS) - The European Union on Friday condemned two executions in Japan this week and called on Tokyo to consider a moratorium on the death penalty before abolishing it completely.

"I deplore the execution in Japan of two death-row inmates... only a few weeks after the execution of two other death-row inmates," EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton said in a statement.

Japan has carried out seven executions so far this year, "a worrying trend" after a gap of nearly two years, Ashton said.

"I reiterate my call for Japan to consider seriously a moratorium, to allow a thorough public debate on the death penalty, pending its complete legal abolition."

Apart from the United States, Japan is the only major industrialised democracy to carry out capital punishment, a practice that has led to repeated protests from European governments and human rights groups.